Hallowed Halls Reviewed By Conny Withay of Bookpleasures.com

Conny Withay

Reviewer Conny Withay:Operating her own business
in office management since 1991, Conny is an avid reader, volunteers
reading the Bible to the elderly, and makes handmade jewelry. A cum
laude graduate with a degree in art living in the Pacific Northwest,
she is married with two sons, two daughter-in-laws, and one
granddaughter.

“I used to preach to Joy
that the hard times in a person’s life are divine appointments -
opportunities to develop character in ways that might never otherwise
be developed. A person’s choices impact the development of her
character, and the closer those choices are to God’s plan for them,
the better and quicker the development,” Zack reiterates in Hannah
Alexander’s novel, Hallowed Halls.

At two hundred and
sixty-nine pages, this Jerry B. Jenkins Select series paperback
targets those who like medical romances that include redemptive
relationships. With some slang and topics of illegitimacy, drug use,
and the effects of divorce, the book would not be appropriate for
immature readers.

In this current day tome
set in the small town of Juliet, Missouri, thirty-two year old Dr.
Joy Gilbert has returned home from Kansas City after being fired as a
pain specialist by the controlling, wealthy, and divorced Weston
Cline. To make complications worse, the obnoxious boss who has been
trying to seduce her does not realize his fifteen year old daughter
has stowed away in her vehicle, wanting to leave her fighting
dysfunctional parents behind.

Returning home to her
ailing and financially-strapped mother, Joy is further saddened
remembering nine months ago, when Dr. Zach Travis broke off their
wedding engagement without any explanation. Although she did not
succumb to Cline’s romantic advances, she torn offering compassion
for the man who has lost loved ones throughout the years as she
starts working with Zach again at the local hospital.

As her mother deals with
health issues and takes care of a menagerie of abandoned animals, Joy
suggests Weston’s daughter stays with them for the summer. When the
young girl experiences fainting spells, Joy wonders if a genetic
disease that caused havoc in the family for decades is to blame.
Reestablishing a medical relationship with her former fiancé to find
the source of the teenager’s illness, Joy questions if she can feel
God’s love and control in her life.

Having realistic
characters that are forced to deal with their pasts of wrong choices
that evolve into hard times, the pruning shears of forgiveness and
acceptance heal broken hearts. With a second book in the future, the
author has plenty of room to explore how shattered lives crave
meaningful relationships as they deal with God and His merciful
grace.

Thanks to The Book Club
Network Inc. for furnishing this complimentary book in exchange for a
review based on the reader’s honest opinions.